Arrows of a great many different designs are known both for use during hunting and also when shooting at targets. They all suffer from the disadvantage that they penetrate the target and often cannot be rescued intact, since they break off when an attempt is made to pull them out. Practice or archery targets are thus manufactured at considerable expense from straw or similar material and, therefore, are very expensive in order to make it possible to pull the arrows out of the target undamaged.
In both archery and hunting, arrows frequently strike harder objects, for example tree trunks, and remain stuck fast in the tree, board, or the like. It is then impossible to pull them out intact, so that the entire expensive arrow is lost and cannot be used again.
The use of hunting arrows is known in many countries. In one form, the arrows have replaceable hunting points on the tip that are provided with sharp blades. When using such a hunting arrow, an accurate shot has so far not been possible except in absolute calm. Any side winds experienced during flight appear to press on the relatively large knife blades and can abruptly change the flight path of the arrow considerably. The result is a miss, usually associated with the loss of the expensive arrow. In addition, there is a considerable problem in that persons participating in the hunt can put themselves at considerable mortal danger from such a stray arrow. It often happens when such shots occur that the animal, if struck, is only injured and dies in agony.
A second major problem is that it is not possible to shoot accurately with a hunting arrow. For this purpose, archery arrows are used that are fired at a target to gain information about aiming and flight. However, since hunting arrows have so far exhibited a completely different behavior in flight, it is practically impossible to shoot a crossbow exactly with the correct adjustment of a sight to determine the correct position of the bow or a harpoon or arrow for a certain range. Inaccurate shots, serious danger to hunters, and agonizing death of game are the result. Protests from animal rights organizations for these reasons are understandable.